Voices of Protest Term Paper

Voices of Protest by Alan Brinkley

In his book, Voices of Protest, the historian Alan Brinkley paints a portrait of 1930's America that was fundamentally ideologically resistant to substantial political change, but sparked politically radical and potential dictatorial movements on both the in response to the economic upheaval of the Great Depression. In Louisiana, Governor Huey Long exercised a nearly absolute control over his state legislature. This was partly due to the Louisiana electorate's greater willingness to be subservient to the will of a strong and charismatic leader, contrary to American democratic ideals, because of the fears generated by the Great Depression. Long seemed like he knew what he was doing and he had 'the answers,' however excessive some of his actions while in power. However, unlike the European parallels of dictatorial control, Huey Long could not hold sway interminably. America's larger federal forces kept the state's sway under their thumbs and Louisianans were unwilling to secede. In fact, President Roosevelt, "considered Long vaguely engaging," and never saw Long as posing a serious thread to the leadership of the land, especially once…